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It can also be used in more general ways, such as to refer to the body of people of a nation or any group of people united by some common interest. It can refer to a federation of states (Australia is designated as a Commonwealth in this way), a self-governing US territory ( Puerto Rico and the Northern Mariana Islands are designated as Commonwealths in this way), or an association of nations (such as what’s known as the British Commonwealth or the Commonwealth of Nations). What does commonwealth mean?Ĭommonwealth has several different meanings (and it is often capitalized). But the difference is only in the name-being a commonwealth doesn’t entail any legal or governmental differences from the other 46 states. Pennsylvania, Kentucky, Virginia, and Massachusetts are commonly referred to as states, but they are actually legally designated as commonwealths. We’ll also try to clear up the state of confusion by sharing our wealth of knowledge about what commonwealth means in other contexts. Read on to find out if you do, and if so, what that means for how your state-sorry, your commonwealth-is governed.

You might even live in one of these four and not even know it.

It’s common knowledge that there are 50 states in the United States of America-and you might even be able to name them all-but did you know that four of them are technically considered commonwealths?